The Sailor, the Teacher, and the Athlete
by LadyVanya
Summary: Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? I wish. Here I am, with my two childhood best friends in the world I have only read and dreamed about. I have only one question. Why me? Aragorn/OC, Legolas/OC, and Eomer/OC. Rated M.
1. Chapter 1: Falling

The Sailor, the Teacher, and the Athlete

Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, right? I wish. Here I am, with my two childhood best friends in the world I have only read and dreamed about. I have only one question. Why me? Aragorn/OC, Legolas/OC, and Eomer/OC. Rated M.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, except my OC's. If I did own Middle-earth, then I wouldn't be posting my stories here now would I?

I woke with a start, and then groaned. One would think that after 3 years at the Naval Academy, I would get used to the abrupt awakenings. But no, of course I would still react like a plebe. My dad had told me once that no matter what, I was not going to get used to it. I should have known he would have been right. He himself was a graduate of the Academy after all. Thinking about made me bite back a sob. He had died only a few months ago due to a rare form of cancer, and I missed him sorely.

While all of these thoughts were racing through my head, I had already tugged on my black pants, pulled on a white T-shirt, and was buttoning up m khaki shirt. Once it was buttoned, I grabbed a clean pair of black socks, quickly laced up my shoes, and walked across my small room to the mirror, and began to pull it back into a tight braided bun. Once it was done, I would make my way, as usual, down to the front of Bancroft Hall, where the rest of the Academy would gather for morning formation, and breakfast. I wondered silently what the poor plebes would have to do today. I chuckled at that thought. Did I really care? I, after all, was a first class, or a senior to you civilians and, in only a few months would be graduating. I grinned into the mirror. Not only would I be graduating, but I would be graduating at the top of my class, and going to medical school on a Navy paid scholarship, which was something that only happened for one or two people. So, in other words, I was very lucky indeed.

I had just finished my hair when my roommate stumbled into the small bathroom where the mirror was located.

"Morning Jen," I said brightly, taking this opportunity to use her first name.

"Meh, hi Abby," she mumbled.

I snickered. Before the Academy, I hadn't been a morning person either. But I grew out of it. Jen, however, didn't. "Still don't like mornings?" I asked innocently.

"No, mornings don't like me. I've told you that before," she glared at my smiling face. I merely shook my head, and turned back to the mirror to study my reflection. My navel long dark brown hair was brought sharply back, which brought out my high cheekbones. My grey-blue eyes searched for any hair that was out of place, but luckily there were none. Satisfied, I stepped out of the bathroom.

"I'm going to head down Jen, okay?" I said. She merely looked at me and nodded, then continued to splash cold water on her face in an effort to wake herself up. She'd be down in time; she always was. I turned the door knob and stepped out into the corridor. Glancing around, I saw I was the only one in the hallway. _That's odd,_ I thought. _There should have been someone on sentry duty still. _I shrugged. I wasn't in charge of the company, so I didn't really care. I just found it odd that **no one** was in the corridor, when usually there would have been plebes running up and down giving chow calls. _No matter, I'll just make my way down anyway._ It would have been nice to know what breakfast was, but I could wait. I turned the corner, and was again greeted by an empty corridor. I shook my head. _Enough, Abigail. You're jumping at shadows. _ Sighing at my sudden jumpiness, I started down the steps.

On about the third flight, I did something I had not done since my plebe year. I tripped. As I went to take a step down, my foot missed the step and I went tumbling down. The only thought I had time for was _SHIT! _before I hit my head on something, and all turned to darkness.


	2. Chapter 2: In a Meadow

**Author's Note: OMG! You guys are amazing! Thank you to kiaxara, RaraCloe, and hsiwalker for following/favoriting this story! I wasn't sure how this story was going to do, especially since it's very similar to another story I'm writing, and I was thinking about stopping it, but you guys made me realize I couldn't do it. **

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize as anyone else's.

When I came to, I didn't immediately open my eyes. Instead, I simply lay where I was, allowing the warm sunshine to spread across my face, and the sounds of a bubbling brook to fill my ears. Wait… bubbling brook? My eyes flew open, expecting to see the bright lights of the hospital wing to greet me. Instead, a clear blue sky greeted me. I sat up slowly, wincing as the world lurched around me. I put a hand to my head and groaned. This was **so** not my day. Looking around, I saw I was in a small meadow, lying next to the brook I had heard when I first woke. The meadow was surrounded by tall trees, and I could see birds flitting from tree to tree, occasionally disturbing a squirrel which would angrily chatter at them. A small smile slowly spread across my face. It was admittedly peaceful, though I had no idea where I was, or how I had gotten here. My company commander would **not** be happy.

A sudden groan alerted me to the fact that I was not alone. Not even close. About five feet away from me, I saw a girl about my age, her blonde hair spread out around her. She looked vaguely familiar, though I could not place her face. Not too far from here, lay yet another girl, again looking vaguely familiar, though she had dark brown hair, like mine, yet her skin was darker. I frowned. Why did these two women look so familiar? It felt as though I had known them in another life or long ago. As I mused, the blonde woman came to, and sat up slowly, much as I had not so long ago.

"Where am I?" she asked out loud, obviously not realizing I was there.

"Frankly, I have absolutely no idea," I said, deciding it would be best to alert her to my presence as soon as possible. She turned towards me quickly, and I got the shock of my life. I had been correct when I thought she looked familiar, for facing me was my childhood best friend, Lynn Greene.

"Lynn?" I gasped, at the same time she had exclaimed, "Abigail?" We stared at each other. Then, we both lurched to our feet, and quickly closed to distance to envelop each other in a giant hug.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I don't know. Do you know where we are?" I responded.

"No clue," she replied.

I stepped back to study my friend. She hadn't grown since I last seen her, still standing at 5'3'". She was more muscular than I remembered however, and her usually light olive skin was darkened to a deep tan. It made her look more exotic, especially with her blue-green eyes. I smiled at her, and she returned my grin. No matter where we were, I was glad to see her.

I glanced over at the other girl I had noticed, and Lynn followed my gaze, her face falling along with mine. Upon seeing Lynn, I had had a horrible suspicion that I knew exactly who the other girl was, and I was correct; just coming to was my other childhood best friend, Erin Jones.

Now, why was I so unhappy to see Erin, who used to be one of my best friends? The reason was simple; Erin and I had not parted as friends. She had been jealous of me for reasons I had never been able to figure out, and had cut off our friendship at the end of eighth grade. Lynn, I knew, had cut of Erin and hers friendship at the end of freshman year. So really, neither of us was happy to see our former friend.

We watched as Erin came to and glanced around. Her eyes landed on us, and immediately her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"What are you two doing here?" she spat.

"Much the same as you. Wondering where the hell we are," I replied, trying, and failing, to keep the anger out of my voice. She glared at me even more. I returned her gaze as calmly as possible. I really didn't feel like arguing with her.

"There's no need to get so mad at me. I only question," she snarled. I stared at her, and then chuckled dryly.

"Oh, yes. Because you're being _**so**_ polite to Lynn and me," I retorted. She only glared more. "Whatever," I said. "I really don't want to deal with this. There are more important matters at hand."

"Like what?" she asked, still angry at me. I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could say anything, Lynn's voice sounded from behind me.

"Like figuring out why there are people pointing arrows at us," she said, fear cracking her voice. I spun, only to come face to face with an arrow. I gulped, and allowed my eyes to travel up the length of the arrow to the bowman whom held it in my face. He didn't look happy.

"Yes, Lynn. That would be an excellent thing to do."

**A/N: Bum bum bum. Any guesses as to who the bowmen are? Well, you can't tell me unless you review! So review! Please? I want to know what you guys think of this! Do you love it, like it, hate it, loath it? Should I continue or abandon it? Tell me! But please don't flame. Flaming makes authors sad. **


	3. Chapter 3: Meetings and Titles

Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Sorry I haven't been updating, life's been crazy!****A quick shout-out to ****Ichigo1305**** who was officially my first review! Thank you!****  
****Disclaimer: Still don't own anything you recognize. Wish I did, but I don't.**

I kept my eyes fixed on the bowman, so I didn't see Erin get up from her place, but I heard the soft crunch of grass as she moved.  
"Erin, stay where you are," I told her, since I had no desire to be shot for anything my former friend did.  
"Of course I'm not going to move. I can't, since there is an arrow pointed at my face," she retorted wryly.  
For several tense moments, the bowmen and us stared at each other. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw some of them step aside to let a figure through. Ignoring the bowman who still had his arrow trained on me, I turned to study the newcomer, whom I guessed to be the captain.  
He had hair like spun gold, and it was styled in braids; two on either side of his head. And these were not your typical braids. The hairs were criss-crossed every which way. His stern blue eyes studied Lynn, Erin, and I as we gaped at him. No, we did not gape at his hair, marvelous as it was. Instead, we gaped at his ears, which came to a delicate point at the end. The only thing I could think was 'Holy shit, he's an elf!' A cursory glance showed that all of the company was elves, a fact which I had missed in my first examination, probably due to fear.  
The captain then said something in a beautiful, musical language that, even though I could not understand, I recognized immediately. Sindarin, he was speaking Sindarin. A made-up language. A language that my favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien, made up. 'And for elves to be speaking it, that must mean...' I didn't want to finish that thought.  
Instead, I took a deep breath, walked up to the captain, and said, "Ú-bedin edhellen. Pedil Westeron?"  
"What the hell did you just say?" came Erin's angry voice.  
"I just hopefully said, 'I do not speak Elvish. Do you speak Westeron?' Then again, I could also have said 'You smell like an Orc and you're an idiot,' but let's hope it's the former," I snapped.  
Luckily, fate was with me, for the captains nodded his understanding and summoned another elf over, this one with dark brown hair.  
"My captain understands that you don't speak the Elvish language," he said in heavily accented English... Or would that be Westeron? "He has asked that I translate. He would like to know who you are and what you are doing so close to the borders of Imladris."  
"I'm-laid-ris? What the hell is that?" Erin asked. I turned around to glare at her.  
"You know, I really thought you were smarter than that. Imladris, the Hidden Valley, called Rivendell by Men, the Last Homely House East of the Sea, The House of Lord Elrond Peredhil... Ring any bells?" She gave me a slight nod, a bit wide-eyed at my outburst. "Good, cause you've only heard me talk about it like 1000 times before," I snorted and turned back to the elven captain and his translator. "Sorry 'bout that. To answer your question, my name is Abigial Witmer, the girl I just yelled at is Erin Jones, and Lynn Greene," I said, gesturing to Lynn, who gave a slight wave. "As to what we are doing so close to your borders, I have absolutely no idea. We woke up here not five minutes before you approached us," I said, looking at the captain as I spoke. I heard the elf translate, and watched as the captain's expression changed from bemusement to... Well just more bemusement, mixed with quite a bit of mistrust. I didn't blame him. I watched the captain say something to the dark-haired elf,then walk off. The elf turned to me.  
"My captain finds it hard to believe your story. He says that it would be best to bring you to Lord Elrond," he told me. "We have horses, enough for even you three. You can all ride, correct?"  
I glanced at Erin and Lynn. I could ride, and I knew Lynn had before, but I was not sure about Erin. "Umm... Well I can. I'm not sure about Lynn and Erin though," I explained. The elf seemed shocked, for obvious reasons. If we really were in Middle-earth, then everyone knew how to ride. For someone not to know how to ride was just beyond odd.  
"Fear not, my lady. The elven horses will allow no rider to fall, unless they themselves leap from their backs. Your friends will be safe," the elf gave me a small smile, one which I returned.  
"Thank you my lord. And please, I am by no means a lady. Call me Abigail. I don't think I'll respond to 'my lady'," I told him.  
He gave a slight chuckle, then said "Well then, Abigail, please call me Thôl. Like you, I'm not likely to respond to any titles, for I hold none."  
By the time he had said this, the captain returned, this time with two more elves, and three horses. They were beautiful. There was a stallion and two geldings. The stallion was given over to me per the request of Thôl, since I was the only one out of my three friends to have any true riding experience.  
The stallion was a beauty. His dark brown coat shone in the sun with the richness of chocolate. His jet black mane and tail were neatly trimmed, and his tack matched his mane and tail, with accents of highly polished steel.  
"His name is Lainor. It means free male in your tongue," said Thôl, coming up beside me. I turned to him.  
"It suits him," I said. I glanced over to the horse my friends had. Lynn was on a dun with a mane and tail of similar color to my horse's coat, while Erin had been given charge of a light dapple grey with a smoky grey mane and tail.  
"The dun's name is Ceven, which means earth, and the grey's name is Hannas, which can be translated as intelligence," Thôl told me. I glanced over at him. "I suggest you tell your friends. It may help them in the long run." Nodding, I mounted Lainor and walked over to my friends. Really, I only considered Lynn my friend, but considering the circumstances, I would include Erin in that category as well.  
"Lynn, Erin," I called, "The horses won't let you fall, since they are elven trained." Erin gave me a dubious look, which I noted but ignored. "It's perfectly safe to mount, trust me." With that, Lynn put her foot in the stirrup, and managed to scramble onto Ceven's back. Erin, however, still stood next to her horse, glaring at me.

"Why in the world would I trust you?" she spat.

"Because, Erin, you have no choice but to trust me," I said, feeling very much like Frodo talking about Aragorn. I turned Lainor's head towards where Thôl was standing, and kicked him into a trot. I have heard Erin's complaint, and turned just in time to see her clamber onto Hannas's back. Smiling to myself, I turned my attention back to Thôl and the elf captain, whose name I still did not know. The captain raised his hand, and we were off to Rivendell.

**A/N: Sorry if this sucks, most of it was written on my iPhone. As always, please R&R!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Battle

Chapter 4: The Battle

**Author's Note: So… hi guys! Sorry about the long wait. I've been really busy with school and sports and life. I'm sick right now though, so I thought I'd take this time to write! Yay! Now, don't kill me for taking so long! But, I'm gonna make it up to you guys, seeing as this chapter has some action!**

**Disclaimer: Hey, guess what! I DON'T OWN ANYHTING YOU RECOGNIZE! **

We had been riding for about half an hour when the captain, whose name Thôl had told me was Faendol, raised his hand for a halt. I had been nearer to the back of the group, staying closer to Lynn and Erin, so I spurred Lainor up to where Thôl was.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. Thôl looked at me uneasily.

"I'm not sure," he replied. "We are still about 15 minutes to the borders." He frowned, and looked around. "Something doesn't feel right," he muttered loud enough for me to hear. I turned to warn him that was usually when something bad happens when about 50 hideous creatures popped out of the trees. Swearing in what I guessed to be Elvish, Thôl drew his sword in unison with the rest of the company. He turned to me.

"Stay back with your friends, Abigail!" he commanded, then turned his horse's head into the fray before I had the chance to comment. I swore, in English and a bit in Spanish just because I could. I spun Lainor on his haunches, and cantered to where my friends where at the back of the group. Stopping suddenly, I shouted to Lynn and Erin to stay where they were. The Elves near them would protect them.

Turning Lainor once more, I muttered "Like hell I'll stay here," before kicking Lainor into a full gallop; maybe not the best idea, seeing as I was unarmed. This was quickly fixed, as I saw an elf go down, his sword dropping next to his now lifeless body. I reached the elf's body not a minute after he fell, and jumped off Lainor; after dropping my stirrups of course. I stumbled slightly as I hit the ground, but recovered in time not to fall. _Man, it's been a while since I've done that!_ I thought. I used to ride Western when I was kid, and one of my events was to jump off my horse, and tie up a calf. Weird, I know, but hey, it works.

I picked up the fallen elf's sword, and turned to look around at where Lainor had gone. I would rather be on horse-back during the battle. Luckily for me, the smart stallion was apparently used to his riders leaping off, and was standing next to me. "Hannon le, Lainor," I said as I remounted quickly. I held the sword as steadily as possible, since it was really too long for me. "Right, rule one of sword-play; stick 'em with the pointy end!" I exclaimed, and rode into the fray. I had been on the fencing team at the Academy, and while different on horseback, the movements weren't too difficult to figure out. It really was "stick 'em with the pointy end", with the occasional parry thrown in there.

I had just finished off my third Orc, for Orcs they were, when I turned to see an un-horsed Thôl facing three Orcs, alone. I spurred Lainor over; fighting through what seemed the thickest part of the Orcs. Deciding that it would perhaps be better to be on foot so I didn't accidently trample Thôl, I dismounted, slapping Lainor on the rump to send him towards where Lynn and Erin were. No sooner had the horse turned tail then I was besieged by Orcs. I fought my way over to Thôl, who looked completely shocked to see me. I allowed for a small laugh, before turning my complete attention to the Orcs.

Thôl and I parried, slashed, and stabbed our way through the Orcs, and soon they were nothing more than lifeless shells. The whole battle had taken perhaps five minutes, but it had felt more like five hours. We stopped, leaning on our swords, breathing hard. We stayed like that for a few seconds before Thôl turned to me, his expression angry.

"What were you thinking!" he asked angrily. "You could have gotten yourself killed! I told you to stay back with your friends!"

"Yes, and if I had done so, you would have been killed," I retorted calmly. Thôl looked ready to argue. "And don't you dare say you would have been fine. There were three Orcs in front of you, and sure, you had those, but I'm guessing you didn't even see the ones behind you!" I exclaimed. That stopped any arguments. Thôl's expression went from angry to thankful and bashful.

"Oh…" he said. "Thank you, Abigail."

I gave him a weak smile, and then said, "You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to hurl." Before he had the chance to reply, I ran to the edge of the battlefield, and dropped to my knees. The stench was unbearable, and the fact that I had just killed hit me suddenly. I had killed before, but only animals, like deer and turkey. Never before had I taken the life of something humanoid. A water bottle-looking thing crossed my line of vision. I turned to find Erin's surprisingly concerned face

"Thank you," I said, taking the water and taking a gulp of it.

"Don't mention it," she said, then got up and walked away. _That girl really does confuse me._ I thought. I clambered to my feet just as Lynn reached me. Wordlessly, she engulfed me in a big hug, one I returned gratefully. No words were spoken between us, but she understood what I was feeling. We broke apart, and I smiled gratefully at her. I turned to go and get back on Lainor, whom Lynn had brought over to me, when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned to see the elf captain.

"Faendol would like to thank you for helping defeat the Orcs," Thôl translated as the captain said something in Elvish. I gave a small, weary smile.

"Tell him not to mention it. I did what I've been trained to do; to go into the fight, not to be a spectator or a liability," I told Thôl. It was true. While we were taught to avoid a conflict, we were also taught that when a fight is unavoidable, don't just stand there. We were trained to lead people into battle; something I, stuck in Middle-Earth, and being a woman, would probably never do. So I followed my instincts, and let all of the past four years at the Academy take over.

The captain gave me a brief nod, accompanied by a slight smile. I smiled back, and turned to mount Lainor. I gave him a pat on the neck once I was settled, telling him what a good boy he was, and how many apples I was going to give him; if I could of course. Once the rest of the company was mounted, we were on our way to Rivendell once more.

We rode for fifteen more minutes, as Thôl had so accurately predicted before the battle, before we reached a guard house. We were waved through, though the guards gave Lynn, Erin, and I strange looks. From the guard house, it was another five minutes before the hall came into view. Turing a corner in the road, Lynn, Erin, and I all stopped in amazement. Peter Jackson with his movies had not done the beautiful elven city justice, and no drawing I had ever seen could come close. The city gleamed in the sunlight, and the sound of rushing waterfalls greeted us. Graceful bridges leaped over the waterfalls, and domed roofs reached for the sky. Balconies jutted out above huge courtyards, dotted with gardens. It was beautiful. It was Rivendell.


End file.
